Luther Arimanes
Luther Arimanes was a human male who rose to prominence in Amarna, becoming king of the city upon his marriage to Princess Philomena Cohilas. After a reign lasting twenty one years, he was murdered, allegedly by his adviser Selca Ducani. Little is known of his life before his conquest of the city; indeed, no one is sure where his armies, wealth, and resources even came from. It is commonly believed he used magic, or made deals with various magical beings such as djinni and wyrms. Biography Luther Arimanes' birth name, parentage, and much of his past is unknown. He often gave wildly exaggerated versions of his origins, and the details rarely stayed the same. There are a few common threads in his stories which seem to have some truth to them. By the time he reached his teens, it seems he was a pickpocket and thief. Supposedly he stole a magic lamp and was astonished and delighted to find it contained a djinn, who granted him three wishes. His first wish was to be rich, his second was to be in command of an army, and his third was for him to become ruler of the city. Sure enough, Luther conquered Amarna with a fantastical army and was considered wealthy enough to marry Princess Philomena, making him prince of the city. Once he assumed power, however, Luther showed little interest in government or politics, preferring to live a life of hedonism and debauchery. He burned through a seemingly limitless supply of money, spending it on extravagant parties and entertainment. His tastes eventually turned cruel, leading to him getting rid of the city's legal system and building an arena where accused criminals were forced to fight to the death in front of a live audience. His arena champion was a slave called Cyrus Spyridon. Luther eventually discovered Philomena was carrying on an adulterous affair with Cyrus. As punishment, he ordered her execution and forced Cyrus to watch. He then married Philomena's youngest sister Naomi to keep his claim to the throne. While he was busy enjoying himself, Luther relied on an inner circle of advisers and managers, dubbed his courtiers, to do the dirty work of actually governing Amarna. A few of these individuals were lowborn friends of his who had known him before he came into power, but most were holdovers from the regime of Philomena's parents with all the corruption that entailed. Eventually Luther became insecure about his position of power and decided to turn everyone in this inner circle into the Major Arcana. To do this, he approached Ardath Dastagir, a young and impressionable magician who was already desperate to make a deal of his own with the Arcana. Luther made Ardath his new court magician, replacing Selca Ducani, who had been one of Luther's most loyal servants, and the two prepared for a ritual which would summon the rest of the Major Arcana and bind them to Luther's closest family members, friends, and allies. Selca attempted to warn them of the dangers involved, but Luther ignored him. On the night of the ritual, however, something went wrong. Luther disappeared, leaving behind only his clothes. No one seemed to know what had happened, but the blame for Luther's disappearance was pinned on Selca. Selca escaped justice and fled the city before he could be hanged.Category:Humans Category:Royalty Category:Characters in Borrowed Time